ASC noms dote on war-theme films

Winner to be announced Feb. 27 in Los Angeles

Themes of war dominated the feature film nominations from the American Society of Cinematographers as Barry Ackroyd (“The Hurt Locker”), Christian Berger (“The White Ribbon”), Mauro Fiore (“Avatar”) and Robert Richardson (“Inglourious Basterds”) drew noms alongside Dion Beebe for musical “Nine.” The winner will be announced Feb. 27 at the 24th annual ASC awards gala at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza Hotel.

So far this awards season, Berger, who has worked with fellow Austrian and “Ribbon” director Michael Haneke since 1992, and the Brit D.P. Ackroyd, known for his work with Ken Loach, have reaped the lion’s share of critics’ laurels, with Berger winning kudos from the L.A. Film Critics, New York Film Critics Circle and the National Society of Film Critics, while Ackroyd was honored by several other critics groups.

Richardson, the sole American among the bunch, has been the most previously nominated by the ASC, and won Oscars for “The Aviator” (2005) and “JFK” (1991).

The ASC awards have overlapped with the Oscars nine times since the ASC started handing out competitive awards in 1987, including last year’s winner, Anthony Dod Mantle for “Slumdog Millionaire.”